"We sell morning coffee@ Rs 78/- per cup only" was the curt reply from the young girl (wo)manning the coffee counter at the departure hall of Indira gandhi International airport, New Delhi. My wife countered saying "last evening i bought the same coffee for Rs61/- per cup"! how come the coffee instead of percolating, shoots up within a span of 9 hrs?
we were on a stand by ticket to fly back to chennai from New Delhi on the 22nd and waited till about 10pm with a hope to get seats but were asked to come the next morning and so began the saga of coffee! My wife stuck to her advocate style of questioning the girl on the counter and she was never willing to give up on her argument that she sells coffee only @ Rs 78/- per cup in the morning! My wife took out the receipt for the coffee that she paid the previous evening which stated Rs 61/- and showed it to the young girl and by this time at least 3-4 people had gathered to buy their morning coffee and became curious onlookers!
The young man who was grinding coffee seeds behind the stall jumped in to rescue the girl saying " oh! you want a regular coffee?" My wife was relentless in saying " I never said I want a spl coffee"! The man ordered the young girl to give a regular coffee to my wife @ Rs 61/- which was not different from the other cups of coffee that he made and gave to customers and charged Rs 78/- per cup!! "To each according to his needs and ability to pay" seems to be the Mantra adopted by the vendors who adorn the airport at all the centres in India.
This policy defeats the principles and ideologies of socialism which was the driving force that governed India all these years! The objectives of social distribution will be crushed if there are no regulations and control over the pricing of products. At this rate, we should be prepared to pay Rs 2000/- for a cup of coffee and may be 17000 for a pitza or a masal dosa in the near future!!?? The rupee will have no value and there will be no food available even if you have bags full of money to pay?
The government should invoke MRTP act and regulate the market mechanism of pricing. With common wealth games in sight, it will be worthwhile looking at these anomalies and plugging the loopholes so that we can stand tall amidst the visiting athletes and delegations coming into the country and give them a strong sense of security. Otherwise, our brothers and sisters in Delhi and the neighbouring states will do well in stripping the foreigners who come in to watch and enjoy the games and hospitality of our nation! The dailies abroad should not carry the front page saying" They came in suits and left New Delhi in Under wears!!!"
